Kaseya has attracted roughly $22.5 million from the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund as part of a funding round that could reach $45 million, the company has confirmed to ChannelE2E.
Kaseya will create up to 130 jobs in Ireland following the investment. The MSP- and IT management-centric software company already employees about 30 people in that country.
As a follow-up, we' re checking to see whether the funding will be used entirely to fuel growth -- or whether some/all of the money will allow earlier investors to cash out of the company. We'll update this article if Kaseya offers a comment on that question.
Kaseya has been on the acquisition path in recent months. The company had three potential deals on its radar in September 2017, CEO Fred Voccola told ChannelE2E at the time. But no M&A announcements have surfaced since that time. Longer term, Kaseya may consider an IPO filing in the second half of 2018, Voccola told ChannelE2E in May 2017. But the strategy could be a red herring of sorts -- perhaps to attract strategic suitors to the negotiating table, ChannelE2E believes.
Market Posturing
Overall, it sounds like Kaseya's business has returned to growth mode after some challenging business and leadership evolutions in the 2014 and 2015 timeframe. The company competes aggressively against such MSP-centric software rivals as Autotask, ConnectWise, Continuum and SolarWinds MSP (among others). Each of those companies is making financial and strategic moves of their own, including:
- Autotask is merging into Datto later this quarter, under terms of a deal announced in October.
- ConnectWise has launched Invent -- a $10 million incubator fund that could grow to $25 million.
- Continuum is pouring money into a SOC (security operations center) build-out, which no major rival has announced plans to counter.
- SolarWinds MSP is back on the M&A scene, scouring the market for potential tuck-ins -- with a particular emphasis on the security market.
Stay tuned for more updates.
